CYPRESS, CA- Charger baseball (26-13, 12-9 OEC) dropped the final game against Orange Coast Pirates (25-14, 11-10 OEC) on Friday afternoon, 9-10.
At the start of the series, both the Pirates and Chargers were tied in the OEC with identical records. Cypress managed to win the series in the first two matchups with their walk off at home and 16-10 victory at Orange Coast.
The Pirates jumped out ahead quickly with key two-out hitting. After back-to-back strikeouts, the visiting team tallied two hits to put runners in scoring position. A passed ball from the Chargers allowed Orange Coast to score the first run of the game. Cypress responded with a run of their own in the bottom half of the frame from a fielder's choice to tie the game at one.
Cypress opened the second inning with two consecutive hits and a walk to load the bases. With a runner at each base, the Pirates pitcher made an illegal move to provoke a balk to allow runners to advance. Orange Coast pitching struggles continued as a wild pitch gave the home team their second run of the inning. Edgar Rosales gave the Chargers their first RBI of the day with a run scoring hit in the bottom of the third frame.
Orange Coast College regained the lead when the team exploded for seven runs in the top of the fourth. From three hits and two errors by the Chargers infield, the Pirates doubled the home team's scoring for a 4-8 score. The Pirates earned an additional run in the sixth from a sacrifice flyout.
In the eighth, Nick Mascaro launched a ball over the right field wall for a solo shot. With their final opportunity the Chargers made it a tense finish as the team came within one. Kane Yonamine hit a sacrifice fly to start the scoring in the bottom of the ninth. Dean Toigo followed with a two run blast to make it a one run game. Down to the final out, Mascaro tripled to put the tying run on third. A wild pitch completed the four run ninth inning comeback for a 9-9 score.
The Pirates managed to tally a run in the 12th inning to sneak away with the 9-10 win. Toigo had a successful day at the plate as he went 2-6 with two RBI, a run and a two-run home run. Tucker Fountain started on the bump and only allowed one run in three innings with three strikeouts. Josh Landry delivered two innings without surrendering a run as he struck out three. Though Cypress lost the final game, the team took the series and finished fourth in the OEC.
UP NEXT: Cypress baseball has finished the regular season and will now be entering the 3C2A playoffs. Announcements on locations, dates and opponents will be released soon.
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